


Electric Love

by JamtheDingus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Electric Burns, Electrocution, Established Relationship, Explosives, Happy Ending, Hunk Whump, Hurt Hunk (Voltron), Injury, Kinda, M/M, Multi, Panic Attacks, Poisoning, hunk gets fucked up, its only slightly better than it sounds, nobody dies?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamtheDingus/pseuds/JamtheDingus
Summary: “Yeah. On it.” Hunk grunted, grabbing for his helmet and tugging it back on for safety, only pausing to wipe at the streak of blood coming from his nose. The red was startling against the yellow and white of his armor, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the poetry of color theory.Yellow’s engines stuttered as he pushed against the current pulling him down.---Team Voltron heads out for a peace talk, and Hunk ends up getting very hurt. Lance is beside himself, but he can always count on Keith to lean on.





	Electric Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmiLu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmiLu/gifts).



> i'm not sure if this is graphic violence or not????
> 
>  
> 
> keith doesn't have a lot of focus in this fic unfortunately (@myself wyd???) but i think i did a good job trying to find a balance between their personalities. lance is Loud n Out there and keith is.... i don't wanna say quiet. just Not As Loud. 
> 
> hope you enjoy!

It’s one of those usual, boring, diplomatic days. Allura was trying to spread the good word that was Voltron, and it’s quest to defeat evil. Well, actually, the team had gotten a hail from a nearby planet. Inupra, it was called. A large planet, almost the size of the sun (the one that Earth orbited, that is), with exactly seven humanoid species and over a thousand microbiotic specimens.

At least, that’s what Pidge found out with a quick scan. Lance couldn’t care less about the composition of the soil, which Pidge had gone on a long spiel about. He was more concerned with whether or not he was allowed to stay inside to take a nap.

Spoiler: He wasn’t.

And so he sat stubbornly at the base of a tree, watching as Allura sucked up to the diplomats that were sent to complete the treaty. They had frog-like features and long bodies that towered over the humans like streetlights. Their skin was bumpy, like braille, and they ranged from purple to grey in color, but they all had friendly smiles. Friendly, toothless smiles.

Instead of schmoozing with the locals, Shiro and Keith had decided to wander around and  “scout the area”. In reality, they were just bonding. Nothing wrong with that.

Pidge was somewhere near the Green Lion, trying to reverse engineer the Inuprian’s hailing system. And Hunk was probably there, too, pulling Pidge back when the aliens got too overwhelmed by the tiny paladin’s excitement. Or maybe even hyping her up.

And Coran, as usual, was doing whatever it was he did all day on the ship. Repairing something? Or maybe trying to think of new recipes to experiment on. Probably something that was just as boring as the rest of the aforementioned activities.

That left Lance alone, with hard bark at his back and soft grass (or it’s space-equivalent) at his feet. Surely, with everyone so busy with their own things, he could take a super short nap? They’d hardly notice if he just… drifted right off…

“Lance!” Allura’s voice pierced through the peaceful silence and he hopped up, head nearly hitting a low-hanging branch.

As he began stuttering out excuses, the Inuprians set out a feast for the heroes. They enlisted the help of Hunk and Shiro for the heavy lifting, but the two boys didn’t complain. Honestly, they were just amazed at the size of the bird they had cooked. It was almost as large as Voltron’s foot.

It took nearly twenty minutes to set out the dishes, and another ten to arrange the seating. Allura at the head, two diplomatic ambassadors on either side of her, and the paladins taking up the rest of the seats.

Allura cleared her throat, lifting a goblet to make a quick toast. “Thank you, our new allies, for agreeing to join us in our journey to defeat Zarkon and his Galra Empire. Together we will be able to defeat him and finally be at peace.” With a nod and a smile, she took a small sip from the golden goblet.

Everyone followed her example, and then the feast began in earnest.

“Princesses first.” Lance teased, passing a plate of some sort of soup in Allura’s direction. Allura, however, didn’t pick up the tone and instead perked up.

“My, Lance! It seems you _do_ have manners.”

Pidge’s laugh echoed in her already emptied goblet. Lance pouted, flicking a pea (which apparently was a universal vegetable) at the caramel-colored hair across from him. Before Pidge could retaliate with some pink mashed potatoes, Shiro’s hand was slamming down on the table between them.

“Chill out, kiddos.” Hunk spoke up, passing a full plate to the both of them. “The Inuprians worked real hard on this feast. I’d like to not be banned from returning until _after_ I pick up some groceries.”

“Yes, _mom_.” Lance pouted, picking at his avian dish, resting his head against the palm of his hand. He didn’t, however, stop poking at Pidge’s shin guard with his foot. Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose, throwing pointed looks at both of them while simultaneously trying to keep a conversation going with a nearby alien host.

The two paladins were just about to take their plates and dump them on each other when a concerned voice cut through the amicable chatter.

“Princess?”

Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Shiro turned to Keith, who was holding said royalty steady as she teetered in her seat, head nearly falling into her plate. She trembled a bit, and swayed to the other side. Shiro, however, was there to catch her and gently lay her in the grass.

“Allura?” He waved his hand in front of her unfocused eyes, snapping his fingers. She couldn’t seem to concentrate, and her body was limp in his hold.

“Coran, something’s wrong with the princess.” Keith spoke into his communicator as the rest of the paladins crowded around.

 _“What’s the problem?”_ Coran’s voice filtered through all of their helmets.

“Maybe it’s an allergic reaction?” Hunk frowned, feeling for her pulse. Before Coran could respond, a weapon fired above their heads and hit an ambassador in the shoulder, knocking them from their seat and pulling the tablecloth with them.

Someone screamed, and the paladins scrambled into action. Shiro lifted the princess to his chest and took off in a sprint towards their lions, Keith right behind him.

Pidge gets hit once, a darkened tint over the white armor. The green paladin took it in stride, with only a grunt and an extra burst of speed as response.

Hunk and Lance, on the other hand, got caught in the crossfire. Lance immediately calls forth his blaster, aiming at the heavily shielded combatants that approached.

“They’re not Galra!” He shouted, diving for cover behind the upturned table and shooting covering fire as Hunk dropped beside him, his own gun materializing not seconds later.

“The translator is picking up parts of their language. It seems to be a protest?” Pidge spoke up. “ _Someone_ must not want to join our Alliance.”

“How’s the Princess?” Lance asked, firing two shots blindly as their heads were showered in splintered wood from their hiding spot. Of course the attackers came prepared, with shields, guns, and even explosives.

Speaking of, a grenade-type plopped right between the yellow and blue paladins and they scrambled out of the way. Hunk dashed right, firing his cannon to cover Lance’s escape. He didn’t notice as a group of the assailants cut him off until they were two steps ahead of him, tackling him to the ground.

“Hunk!” Lance cried, ducking behind a tree just as the grenade exploded.

The yellow paladin’s ears were ringing as the enemy Inuprians grabbed him with clammy, amphibious hands and flipped him onto his stomach. He heard the alarming sound of electricity near his ear before he felt it coursing through his veins.

They struggled to lift him while he was stunned, but they were so tiny compared to him, skinny arms more suited for programming bots than benchpressing something twice their size. Even with the group crowding him, they weren’t able to lift him very far.

For which, Hunk was thankful. Once he’d forced the air that had gotten stuck in his throat when they tased him back down, he was more than prepared to throw them off and into a few conveniently placed trenches.

“Hunk!” Lance screamed again, voice echoing through his malfunctioning communicator. “Come on, dude!”

Hunk grunted, rolling a shoulder. It would probably be bruised, but he would live. He conducted a brief once over of himself as he ducked and dove from the enemy retaliation, narrowly escaping another grenade. “On my way!”

Something else crackled through his busted helmet, but he couldn’t make out the words. It might’ve been Pidge?

Luckily, his lion wasn’t that far off. Near the Green Lion sat Yellow, hunched over and tense. Or, as tense as a machine can look. Hunk was grateful that the barrier easily dissipated and he slipped in without a hitch.

Once inside, he brought up the Lion-to-Lion communicator instead and tossed his helmet off to the side. A total safety hazard, but his ears were still ringing from the explosions and the static constantly crackling in his ears was _not_ helping.

“Did everyone get away?” He asked as his Lion quickly powered up and took off, trailing just a few hundred feet from the Blue Lion.

“We’re all good.” Keith breathed heavily, and his picture popped up in Hunk’s peripherals as he checked Yellow’s power. “Shiro, how’s the Princess?”

There was a shuffling noise before Shiro popped up next. Pidge and Lance quickly joined in soon after. “She’s… still asleep, but she’s alive.” His voice was a bit shaky, and Hunk instantly saw how much everyone’s demeanor changed. They all tensed, gripping their controls like stress balls.

“Hangars are open. A diagnostic for the Princess is being set up. How much longer until you all reach the Castle?” Coran questioned, a flurry of beeps and boops of him furiously commanding the castle trickling in the background.

“Should be just a few minutes.” Shiro turned to glance back at Allura, who was leaning heavily against the wall, head lolling with the slightest movement.

“Watch out!” A voice cut through, too loud to really discern the speaker.

Red rammed into Black, and they swerved away just as a bright beam of light shot at their quickly vacated space. Allura mumbled nonsense as her body slid across the floor, but she was unhurt from the spin.

“Thanks.” Shiro breathed, and Keith nodded at him on the video feed. He slipped into a formation with the other four lions, leading as always, with Keith and Pidge to his right and Hunk and Lance to his left.

“Incoming!” Lance called, dodging out of the way. Another beam shot and deflected off of the Castle’s shields.

They weren’t expecting another shot to immediately follow, catching the Blue Lion by the tail and pulling her down. Lance squealed, and his video flickered from the interference. Not only that, but Blue’s exterior lit up like she was being electrocuted.

“They sure do love tazing.” Hunk grumbled, before calling out a worried, “Lance!” and charging into the line of fire.

He rammed head first into the underbelly of the Blue Lion, sending her hurtling back into open space and taking her place. The beam then wrapped around Yellow and began to tug the Lion and its paladin back down to the planet’s surface. Electricity surged through the controls, stinging Hunk’s hands.

His safety belt malfunctioned from the current, and he was slammed backwards out of the seat, head hitting a side panel and frying his head.

“It’s one of those beast things!” Pidge called, doubling back with Keith and Lance to help Hunk.

And a beast it was. It was huge, almost rivaling the Castle of Lion’s immense size. A thin blanket of some type of fur covered it’s skin, which had been interlaced with wires and machinery. A single eye seemed to be locked onto all five Lions at once.

From inside the Yellow Lion, dozens of alarms were going off. Hunk groaned, rubbing his neck. It would bruise, but he was just glad it wasn’t broken.

“Ugh… Whuh… Yellow!” He slurred, shoving his body up from the floor and collapsing over the consoles. His hands shook slightly as he read over the damages, and he couldn’t make himself do anything but stare as more and more popped up.

“--unk! Resp--d!” Voices fizzed through the speakers of his helmet, sitting sadly in the corner of his Lion, like a soda that had been shaken before being opened.

He grunted as his Lion shook violently, collapsing into his seat. “‘m here, guys.” He murmured. Then he coughed, and spoke up.

“I’m here.” He tried again, pulling up the videos once more and rolling his shoulders. He would definitely have to treat Yellow to some special bonding time after this.

Lance looked visibly relieved. “We’re coming to get you, bud. Just sit tight, yeah?”

“Or try to not get sucked down there. We don’t want that thing _plus_ the Inuprians attacking us.” Pidge spoke up.

“Yeah. On it.” Hunk grunted, grabbing for his helmet and tugging it back on for safety, only pausing to wipe at the streak of blood coming from his nose. He must have banged it when he flew out of his seat. The red was startling against the yellow and white of his armor, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the poetry of color theory.

Yellow’s engines stuttered as he pushed against the current pulling him down.

The lasso'd electricity wrapped even tighter around Yellow's sides, crushing in. If she had lungs, she'd be in big trouble. Not to say, of course, that either she or Hunk were having the time of their lives at the moment.

Her armor began to buckle, and Hunk didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Lance and Blue had been caught instead. In this situation, it was best that the one with the most armor was trapped like this, so the ones with firepower could get him out.

As he’s pulled down lower and lower— Yellow sucking in on herself like a black hole— the robeast cuts fully through the atmosphere. The clouds cling to it, as if trying to hold it down, but ultimately it pushes through.

It... was very similar to one of the first robeasts they'd ever faced. It's singular eye rotated completely around its head, but the body seemed to have been replaced with an actual engine. It must be fast, then.

The body rotated (creepily enough, the head stayed facing straight) and the electric rope yanked Hunk closer. The current let up for just a moment, allowing him to breathe in the metallic tang of his own blood, and he choked on his cough as pain ruptured through his arm. And, upon closer inspection, he was having major trouble even trying to twist his wrist. Oh boy.

The hairy, creepy, spinny robeast jerks itself closer, and there is a faint, high-pitched sound of _something_ being powered up, audible even in the empty void of space. That was the only warning they had before it shot again, at an encroaching Pidge that had tried to sneak up behind it.

Hunk, the darling, does try his best to help his friends. He tries to wiggle his controls this way and that to escape the hold, he tries to stop his nose from bleeding any further into his mouth, and he even tries to comfort the distressed Yellow in the back of his mind. He _did not_ want to think about how much she must be hurting being wrapped so tight like that. Not one bit.

Around him, his team's voices filtered in one ear and out the other as they made and executed their plan.

First, Keith distracted the beast by being the biggest threat while Shiro dropped Allura off in the castle, out of harm's way. He fired everything he had on it, and it chased him like an agitated cat.

Yellow had begun to get tugged along with the pursuit, but he was quickly cut free by both Lance and Shiro. The rope was frozen by Blue's ice beam, and Shiro flashed by to cut it with Black's jawblade.

Yellow drifted, and Hunk didn't have the strength to try to move away. Instead, he sagged against the controls, timing his breathing with his erupting heartbeat, loud in his ears. It had long since drowned out the other voices, and the only thing that kept him from panicking was Yellow's presence.

Outside, though, his team was doing just fine. Even without Voltron, they were quickly overpowering the creature. It must have been built solely on speed, because even just ramming into it sent it spiraling out of control.

Pidge was the one to finish it. It was lured close by Keith, and Pidge burst out of invisibility to shoot as many times as she could, directly in its face.

Once one beam pierced, the remaining dozen easily cut through as well. It trembled and erupted into a satisfying ball of fire, and the team high-tailed it out of there as fast as they could.

The Black Lion latched onto the severely damaged Yellow, tugging her back home while the Green and Red help support the less broken, but still very much so voltaic Blue Lion.

Once they are safely nestled in their hangar, Coran flies them as far away as they can get without Allura's power teleporting them. Yellow is unable to support herself, and has to flop uselessly on her side in order to begin repairing herself.

Hunk, inside, is hardly doing better. He felt so tired, but he knew, out of everything learned from the medical classes forced on them by the Garrison, one with severe injuries should never be allowed to fall asleep. Or something like that.

So, he forced himself out of his chair to lean heavily against the walls of his Lion. He tears off his helmet to swipe away the remaining blood coating his lip with his uninjured hand.

That's how Lance bursts in on him. Blood across the front of his suit— which really looked much worse than it was— , an unnaturally held arm— which barely even hurt anymore!— and tears in his eyes. Those he had no excuse for, other than the fact that he'd been absolutely terrified about everything that had just happened to them.

Lance leads him out, chattering at him a mile a minute as he fussed with the blood, and Shiro quickly comes to help them down the ramp as Hunk teeters dangerously to the side, listing where he stood like a broken boat in the middle of the ocean.

The team huddles around him, but still they stay far enough away to give him space to find his footing. It's almost like a halo of worry around him, and Hunk cracks them a smile. "I'm okay guys."

Keith inhales sharply, ready to tear Hunk a new one until Shiro catches his attention with a quick motion, silencing him just like that.

Shiro and Lance support Hunk on the way to the medbay, where they're intercepted by Coran halfway down the hall.

They reach the destination faster than Hunk could remember them ever doing— or maybe he'd blacked out a bit halfway there— and he is quickly stripped down to pinpoint his exact injuries.

Upon peeling the suit from Hunk's hands, Lance jerks back with a hiss. The skin there was raw, white and black and red all at once, and Lance could swear it was even still smoking, as if the energy was still coursing through Hunk's veins and singeing him from the inside out.

Lance steps away to settle his suddenly disturbed stomach, and Pidge offers him a comforting pat on the shoulder with one hand as she set up the pod with the other.

The others stayed relatively quiet and uneased until the time comes to place him in the pod. They gathered around him in an anxious semi-circle as the pod opened, releasing a flood of chilly smoke.

They'd gotten half of his limp body in the pod when he began to struggle.

"Wait, I—" He grunted, nearly breaking free of Coran's grip when Shiro grabbed his other side. Even with the two of them grappling at his shoulders, he was making a heavy headway breaking out of their grips. It took the combined efforts of both of them, plus Pidge's extra hands to push him completely in. The entire time, they tried to console the upset paladin, who had sobbed harder and harder the further in he was pushed, shaking like a autumn leaf in the middle of a rainstorm.

Lance's heart leapt to his throat. "He's... he's having a panic attack." He whispered. Then, louder, "He's panicking! Give him a little space, guys." He shoved his hands between the three and, in his haste, nearly tripped all of them over.

He would worry about the scolding he'd get later. For now, he turned all of his focus on Hunk and grabbed his shoulders, squeezing them tight. "It's gonna be fine, big guy. You won't even realize you were in there until we pull you out, okay?"

"I realize _now_." Hunk whimpered, and he was about two seconds from hyperventilating.

Lance shushed him, pressing a kiss against Hunk’s few uninjured knuckles. "It'll be over before you know it. We won't let anything else hurt you, yeah? I know you trust me, Hunky hunk. Yeah?"

Hunk hesitated for half a second before he nodded his head, sagging against Lance. He grunted as he bore most of the weight of his friend, but slowly ambled him back into the pod with the quick help of the others.

"I'll be right here when you wake up, and then we can go and do whatever you want, okay?"

Hunk mumbled an affirmation, and Lance stroked his thumbs across Hunk's eyes, wiping away the tears that clumped his eyelashes.

"See you in a tick."

Lance stepped back, pulling Keith along with him to let the pod shut securely and fill with whatever cold magic it had stored inside. He watched as Hunk got in one last good shudder before he was knocked out and set on the fast-track to Cure Town.

He can't seem to stop his shaking hands, and he pointedly ignores any looks his friends pass his way, no matter how worried they were.

Shiro walks past, placing his hand over Lance's head as he does. "Take some time to settle, you three."

Immediately, Lance shakes his head, accidentally jarring Shiro's hand from there. "I'm staying here. With Hunk."

A familiar red suit pops up next to him, and Keith nods his head. "Me, too."

Shiro's eyebrows pop up in surprise, but he doesn't deny them their request. "Alright, then."

His succeeding words get lost in the back of Lance's brain as he squeezes his hands tightly against his chest. Partly to stop them from shaking, but mostly to give him something else to focus on, so he doesn't burst out crying in front of _everyone_.

Shiro eventually leaves, though, with one last encouraging pat to his (and Keith's) shoulders. Pidge stays a bit longer, with Coran, to figure out when exactly Hunk would be exiting his cold prison.

They leave when Keith can't seem to stand it anymore, and holds out his hand for Lance to hold. It was a sudden, uncharacteristic gesture for them, but Coran and Pidge knew private moments when they saw it. Quietly, they left the boys to themselves.

They held hands until Hunk's pale color returned to its natural, beautifully brown hue.

 

\---

 

Hours later found the two in nearly the same position. Instead of standing, they sit back to back in front of the pod. Lance idly sips on a water pouch, and Keith fiddles with Altean weights. Their hands are still firmly tangled together, resting against the cold floor.

Once Keith jostles Lance for the umpteenth time that hour by switching weights, the blue paladin groans into the empty room.

"Stop it. You're gonna be _so_ sweaty by the time he gets out."

Keith snorts at him, and Lance shakes his shoulder to throw him off balance. "I'm serious! Sweaty group hugs are _gross_."

"I'll go change, then."

"What— in like, the three seconds it takes for the pod to open?"

They bickered with each other until they both were red in the face, moving from sitting to standing to turning away from each other out of frustration. They didn’t hold hands again until the next hour, when Keith leaned over to lean against Lance’s shoulder and swiped at his eyes, almost furious at the way tears welled up in them. The two of them murmured soft apologies, just before they fell asleep.

 

\---

 

Halfway through Hunk’s healing cycle, the doors to the medbay open, and a perfectly fine, if not a bit groggy, Allura poked her head in.

She offered them soft smiles, stepping in fully as the two woke themselves up. “I was told I would find you both in here.”

“Couldn’t just leavy Hunk all alone.” Lance offered with a shrug of his shoulders. “He’d hate that.”

Allura wordlessly hummed, smoothing out her skirts to join them on the stairs, sitting on the free side of a yawning Keith.

For a moment, silence echoed around them. Not necessarily awkward, but very noticeable.

Then, Lance perked up, turning towards Allura. “We’re glad to see you’re alright, princess. No side effects from whatever they drugged you with?”

“Nothing but heavy limbs and a slight headache.” She promised. “Coran suggested I stay in bed, but…”

“You wanted to check on Hunk?”

She sent him a teasing smile. “He _is_ my favorite paladin.”

Lance put a hand over his heart, obviously not offended at the statement even if he pretended. Hunk was _everyone’s_ favorite paladin, after all.

“Do you know why we got attacked, anyway?” Keith spoke up, picking at his gloves. Already, he was awake and alert.

Allura tilted her head. “We haven’t been in contact with them yet, as far as I know. But I assume that it was just that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ll have to look into it, once everyone is up and at the ready.”

“So… it _wasn’t_ because of Voltron?”

Allura shook her head. “Only technically? From what Coran told me, there were a few extremists that prefer the ‘safety’ of Galra rule, over the freedom that the current legislation was fighting for.” She sighed, tucking her hands under her legs as she looked up at the ceiling. “The attack most likely would have happened regardless, but we were good targets to hit.”

“They must have contacted the Galra, though. To have summoned that awful robeast thing.” Keith pointed out, cringing at the memory of it.

“I’m glad you all were able to get out of there without me transporting us.” Allura confessed. “I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if none of us were in uniform.” Something her father had been adamant about, back in the day. It never hurt to be prepared, even if only as a display of power.

Lance threw his hands in the air. “Everyone wants to attack a princess.”

She huffed at that, standing. “You don’t understand the half of it.” She motioned towards the pods. “I’m assuming you two will be sitting here through the night, waiting for him?”

Lance and Keith shared a glance, before the two of them nodded. “I’m sure he can’t wait to see my beautiful face.” Lance said, striking a pose that showcased his glowing features.

Allura hummed, walking up the handful of stairs back towards the door. “Of course. I’m glad to see you two are doing alright after the incident.”

Keith snorted at that, self-consciously rubbing at his eye. Neither of them mentioned the brief breakdown he’d had, between one cuddle and the next. Lance isn’t sure if he’d ever seen someone cry so hard, but here they were with him acting perfectly fine not even three hours later.

With that, Allura left them to their own devices. Lance stood, walking toward the pod to run his palm across the cool glass.

“It kind of sucks that we got attacked for _that_ , though.” He mumbled. Advocating for freedom was a dangerous profession, apparently. But… at a basic level, he could understand where the rebels had come from, even if he didn’t agree with it.

Keith flopped against the ground, heaving a heavy sigh.

“Yeah.”

 

\---

 

Hours later, they woke to cold mist smacking them across the face from the pod they’d nestled underneath. Lance jerked, flopping backwards against the unforgiving ground, only to take Keith’s head to his gut when the latter groggily followed him down.

“I’m dead!” He shrieked, gripping his stomach once they recovered. Keith snorted, helping him up and hurrying off to the side of the opening pod. “And I _told_ you that you wouldn’t have enough time to change once he came out.”

“He won’t care.” Keith argued back, self-consciously crossing his arms across his chest as if to hide any smells he was emitting.

Lance tsk’d. “Does my opinion not count?”

Before Keith could retaliate with something mean,  Hunk tumbled forward. The two boys caught him as best they could while he regained his footing and the feeling back in his limbs.

Hunk kept his eyes closed as he wiggled his repaired fingers, rolled his bruiseless shoulders, and stretched the kinks out his back.

Then, he hesitantly peeked open one eye and shot the two an embarrassed smile. “You were right.” He nudge Lance in the shoulder. “I barely noticed it when I fell asleep.”

Lance beamed at him and, unable to stop himself, wrapped his entire body as best he could around Hunk’s torso. “I’m so glad you’re alright, big guy.”

“Sorry for freaking out.” Hunk gestured Keith forward. When he hesitated, Lance snatched him up by the shoulders and tugged him in for a group hug.

“Don’t worry about it, Hunky. You were so brave.”

Keith nodded, face firmly buried against Hunk’s skin. The two shared a knowing grin, and they stayed like that for the longest. Keith, out of the two of them, was the most introspective. He was _quiet_ and it took him a while to voice his feelings, but both Hunk and Lance would be there to listen once he got his thoughts sorted and in order.

(They were expecting a few tears before they finally went to bed, to be honest.)

Hunk began shuffling from foot to foot to regain feeling in his toes, easily bearing the weight of them both while they hugged out their emotions. It was actually very therapeutic.

Then, Keith slid away, and Lance followed shortly after.

“You ready to go lay down and cuddle the night away?” Lance shot them both some finger-guns. “How’s this sound: you, me, Mullet over there, and some fluffy Altean pillows?”

Hunk was ready to agree until Keith shot forward, almost literally smacking Lance’s hands down. “No way. He needs peace and quiet after all of that. We’re just going to walk him back to his room and make sure he’s comfortable, and then we’re leaving him _alone_.”

Lance sputtered, taking a step into Keith’s personal space. “Uh— I don’t _think_ so. You and I _both_ were more worried than… than… a _worrywart,_ and now you just want to leave him by himself?” He pfft’d.

Keith took a matching step forward, and their foreheads nearly banged together. “He needs time to _relax_.” He shot back, and the two broke out into a heated argument over their decision. Hunk sighed, glancing up at the ceiling as if it had any answers for him.

Then, he cut between the two of them and kissed them soundly on the cheek. Almost immediately, their words died down, and Hunk gifted them with a beaming grin.

“How about we get something to eat first? And then we figure out what to do after.”

The two stuttered out embarrassed agreements, which honestly was the cutest thing Hunk had ever seen, and he wrapped them up in an even tighter hug than before as he dragged them off towards the kitchens for a well-deserved late night snack and some warm cuddles to last them through the night.

They ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms, heads knocked together on the couch with a bowl of crunchy, sweet snacks stuffed between their legs.

And— if he learned _anything_ from this situation, Hunk was glad that it was this:

There was no better feeling than waking up with the two people you loved right there with you, safely nestled in your arms.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gay for cuddling
> 
> LMAO this took 6 months to write, and is definitely a frankenstein of the different writing styles i've cycled through since then, but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. the only reason i even finished it is b/c of the Beautiful and Iridescent Ami so y'all should thank her for this asljdhasjld
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


End file.
